the victims of a devastating flash flood in the region which killed over one hundred seventy and affected twenty four thousand it's become the area's worst natural disaster. and bravery in the face of horror we have the stories of those who miraculously escaped the deluge as well as the people who rushed to provide help with the rescue efforts. a special envoy. to the syrian leadership point fingers of what it calls america's role in the civil.

worldwide news live from the heart of moscow with me will receive. a day of mourning has been declared in russia for more than one hundred seventy lives lost in the flooding in the southern resort region of cross it was on friday night thousands of houses were hit by what locals describe as a tsunami like deluge caused by. in the region with this report tom bot. today is a day of grief and a day of mourning for the victims of flash floods in southern russia the search for bodies does continue as does the cleanup operation made more difficult by the lack of supplies of electricity gas and fresh water the water came into the town on friday night in the middle of the night with huge force and with no warning it flooded and destroyed houses and flipped cars over in the street many of the

victims were elderly people unable to escape in time so rapid was the deluge. all across the town people tried to escape and get to help on roofs and on fences wherever they could find any shelter a criminal case has been opened into why so many people died and it's also been found that a flood warning system did not work properly people here are very angry both at the lack of the warning and because they say the local reservoir and its dam caused the flooding by opening its gates across the internet there's also been a lot of discussion with some people criticizing the hour for a tease and others using the internet to try and organize donations of clothes and supplies for people who have lost everything authorities deny that the dam cause the flooding saying that it had an automatic overflow system that came into effect but that didn't release enough water to cause flooding and investigation which is

looking into the causes will try and find out what exactly happened on that night in friday when all the water arrived people across the town of crim scared today and also throughout the region are trying to start cleaning up and rebuilding their houses and their communities but primarily today is a day for green. for all those who lost their lives. after the flood a country mourns. everywhere in the town of crims there is evidence of the force and spooned of the waters of violence and to seems everyone here has their own personal drama to tell this used to be a lot of members living room this used to be her bedroom the house has been completely gutted from the inside by the water which came right up to the tops of the windows live mail and managed to escape and sat all night on

a neighbor's fence while her house collapsed she was perhaps a lucky one though his neighbors say just down the road a neighbor an old woman had her house collapsed on top of the night miller perched on top of the neighbor's fence the flood surging around her lead you there were they would have had to break into more than three meters i was sitting on the fence and bring it wouldn't come higher because they knew i would have drowned most of those who died were elderly too frail to escape the deluge those who did manage to make it to safety say they will never forget what happened i grabbed the curtain and pushed my feet through the window this can save my life the helicopter did not see me of but i started to wave my cane and it came back it couldn't land so it didn't pick me up after that a boat came and i started to shout they save me for those left behind the basic necessities must now take priority. where looking through the rubble for our things

wash them in this water and in their hours dry them the clothes that we're wearing now are actually all we have left as the wave struck we only thought about our children and our lives since the beginning of this tragedy the death toll has climbed steadily and even now not everyone has been accounted for our ten year old nieces lost who were standing outside the morgue all day yesterday but no news nothing many here are hungry. and exhausted and have no home mr return to and need to start from scratch here i'm a veteran of the second world war in one medals are gone everything is gone i don't have anything anymore how do i live more your should i do now but i thank god i'm alive and with commemoration service is being held across russia there are certain to be many more stories of personal tragedy. r.t. and while friends and loved ones bury their dead there have been warnings the

number of victims could rise further emergency teams continue to search through the debris left by the flood now it's about thirty five thousand people now have been affected by the flash floods many still in a state of shock artist in his particular reports on how they're coping. the flood affected almost every family and every household sold and crims just this morning with all groups of people talking about the damage still trying to find their neighbors and loved ones there was a sign on one of the houses we passed this morning that read i'm alive i'm at my brother's place there is a lack of local information since there is still no electricity in most neighborhoods with no radio or t.v. in town people share news by word of mouth we saw dozens of relatives visiting the town's morgue where they did the identification of bodies is still taking place those who were lucky to survive now face tough challenges this scale of destruction is enormous and people are taking matters into their own hands by starting to rebuild homes and apartments the russian emergency ministry deployed thousands of

rescue workers but there is so much more besides government's help there is a strong feeling of support coming from russia in a broad social networks twitter and facebook in particular are buzzing with information about donations for the victims of the koreans chewed up as a child out of with them i read people's pleas for help on an internet forum and we rushed here my son and i as soon as we could to at least bring some much needed food at the time he calls for help go beyond traditional charities as volunteers among them private individuals from other cities travel to koreans bringing food water and clothes yesterday were met calls explained cross the border who brought several trucks of supplies. parties to his political reporting there for now the volunteers are resorting to a whole range of modern communication tools to help those affected by the floods activists all across russia have started drawing an online map to help to coordinate the volunteer effort anyone willing to donate food or clothes can find

the nearest spot to do so or set one up and let others know about it as well other resource also helps show ways to get aid to the stricken area which is now a major problem with the help of the map people going to can pool their efforts to bring more aid all volunteers within those details for you a click away at artsy dot com now if you go to our website you can read more on the crash that our region floods there's been a lot of criticism about the handling of the disaster by local authorities the mayor of crim scan the district head have already been fired now the head of the entire region has come under fire a luxury to have done more in terms of issuing a flood warning but he claims there wasn't enough time to spread the alarm when r.t. dot com we've got the latest footage on the photos from the disaster zone as well as the timeline of the tragedy also of course you can follow our correspondents twitter feeds to get more reports from the heart of the disaster. this is

our to you know damascus has agreed to move ahead with implementing a peace plan proposed by kofi annan despite international skepticism a special envoy held talks with the syrian president who accused the u.s. and some of its regional allies of being partially responsible for civilian deaths in his country. is also now joins us live on the program good to see you today there certainly has been an atmosphere of a diplomatic gloom over syria recently do tell us what else has been agreed upon meeting with the country's leadership. while you're on an arab league actually able to see you ria has described his meeting with president bashar al assad here in damascus on monday as constructive kofi annan has sat that they've agreed discussed and agreed on approach and common approach on how to end the violence here in syria he has said that it cannot be done and should be done through dialogue and it has also stressed that. all the sides been involved in these conflict should do their

best to try to implementing this six point peace plan brokered by you and earlier in april in the battle way they've been doing it before actually indeed the gun peace plan six point plan hasn't been successful so far we've been only seen in witnessing this collation of the violence here in syria immediately after it was announced so it's absolutely clear that something should be changed in the way to implement that and this is exactly what kofi annan has been stressing on there is also is a very interesting detail while talking about this common approach kofi annan has sat that. we will share it with the armed opposition but after that immediately he has corrected himself and said that i will share it with the opposition and that could be considered as an indication that we were unlikely to see any dialogue between the current regime and the opposition any time soon. actually that's not surprising because president bashar assad has recently said

that he is ready to talk to these people while the syrian opposition has made it has made it clear there can be no solution and no dollar is possible until assad leaves well while we see that international diplomatic efforts peace efforts are still continuing it actually doesn't sound very optimistic so far unfortunately back to you certainly over the past number of months during this seventeen month call for the president has said to the rebels meet me at the negotiating table we can talk as you mentioned just a moment ago where the rebels consistently refuse to sit down for peaceful negotiations understandably though that the syrian president feeling a lot of pressure certain international players are bearing down on his country he's here he's had some harsh statements regarding some international players want to be have to say. absolutely we've been hearing recently very hostile months from president bashar al assad on foreign nations involvement in this crisis in syria he

has sat the u.s. is trying to destabilize the situation here in the country by providing the political support for armed gangs and terrorists operating here in syria he has also said that saudi arabia encarta are also involved in this crisis by providing financial support to the rebels and by arming and he has also mentioned turkey that he is providing logistical support for the rebels and answering the question whether you could be considered partially responsible for the deaths of innocent civilians here in the country president bashar assad has given a positive answer yes of course he has sat the u.s. is responsible for people being killed here in syria just a few figure is opposition activists have been saying that up to eight hundred thousand people have died since the beginning of the uprising last march while you and i and damascus based you human. rights groups estimate it's around the

ten thousand people but still a lot of people i have to say that we've been hearing all the statements from president bashar assad just days after we've been getting conflicting reports from the international community earlier following the friends of syria meeting in paris that they unilaterally condemned the syrian regime of balances and atrocities in the country and isn't even meeting and your answers a council the week before that agreed and recognize that both sides of the conflict i recall are responsible for atrocities and arms supplies to both sides of the conflict are equally fueling this this crisis here in the country well this crisis has been raging here in syria for sixteen months we're ready and many asked the question why did it take so one and some analysts say that the most complicated thing is that while it's clear from one side there is a serious syrian regime of bashar assad and his opponents it still remains unclear

exactly who or what it is fighting against and here's my report on that would be for you watch i just want to warn you that you can find some of the images from this report disturbing. since the uprising in syria escalated the west has been consistently calling on assad and his government to step down defectively want to give to the demands of the armed opposition but it seems too far there is no clear understanding of who exactly they are. these fighters of the syrian opposition they're brave determined full of pride they took the fate in their hands. but for some taken control of their destiny meant taking up arms in this amateur video posted on you tube which cannot be independently verified gunmen calling themselves members of the opposition militia from its. explain why this man was hanged and which he helped the syrian regime and

was killing the rebels they say can i meddle. on behalf of all france let me express my admiration by their bravery over the norm but this kind of justice only adds more anger to what has already been called a civil war. the terrorists are currently those murderers and i believe kill them is necessary for them to leave us. we cannot ask the opposition to unilaterally give up their struggle for justice dignity and self-determination in other media whose origin is hard to establish these men say they captured the syrian air force officer then they dispense even more rough justice. the united states will continue providing non-lethal assistance to help those inside syria who are carrying the fight to organize and better

communicate. in this video camera says the fight must go on it warns this will happen to anyone who cooperates with the assad government. they are top criminals these people type of criminality how do they have the right feel sad when you find your country destroyed our country we've been building our lives. the whole world wants to see a political transition from this illegitimate regime you seem to actually see one that can take care of its people many here however fear that should such people force us to leave since like these will become a familiar occurrence and have little faith in western force democracy. where they targeted democracy in the gulf or in other countries we are syrian people we should decide these things ourselves. this mantra that the syrian people alone should

determine their country's future has been repeated by many nations and has finally been recognized by major world powers but why some states still continuing to call on assad to leave and support in his opponents fears mounted in syria that this is the people that will pay the ultimate price. r.t. from damascus in syria. and r.t. is coming to you live from the heart of moscow president putin has said that working out a political solution in syria will take much more effort than what he called barbaric foreign intervention but he added the only dialogue will bring lasting stability speaking at a meeting with the country's ambassadors on envoys put an outline of russia's foreign policy priorities and more on that now from artie's chantel. international relations are getting up more complicated in the world and there is uncertainty and one of those areas of uncertainty is of course the arab spring in this address the

president wasted no time in going after the west in criticizing what he called their arab interference in fact the so-called humanitarian missions of the west and of america to go in and bomb and get their agenda promoted listen to what he had to say about this tactic. and we're going to end up with we see some of our foreign partners striving to maintain their influence so that often our partners act unilaterally which goes against international law we see this ensue called human interior operations thanks paul to the asteroid democracy interference with internal conflicts what we do by see that the process of reforms in north africa and the middle east is controversial and unbalanced and many of us remember vividly the tragic events in libya these scenarios must not be repeated in other countries such as syria now it is interesting that this is russia's foreign policy but he did turn to some u.s. things that are happening right now you did say that this is a pre-election period in the united states and that there have been hostile

comments and rhetoric that are a throwback to the cold war era in fact he warned american politicians i can start trying to earn points by using harsh anti russian comments an ideological stereotypes which russia is trying to step away from now one area that russia and the united states have differed greatly is that of syria in fact america has been very harsh about russia's stance on syria russia is very up to the idea in fact what he said about that it is that syria on the topic he believes that we must do all we can to force the warring parties to sit down and promote a resolution through dialogue rather than a single unilateral intervention. reporting right now a talk about his past the hour here in moscow libya's prime minister and the man credited with engineering that these downfall. unity in the country before national poll results have even been announced libyans voted in its first election in five decades on saturday the day was marked by intimidation and violence it's now fear

that certain factions will disregard the poll results entirely saying and i witness to the anti could after the uprising says the vote was anything but democratic democracy point you can watch libya now if you visit libya and see the weapons are over a country militia controlling the. country you from both elected freely in this atmosphere how can i go through the election knowing that there's a gun on my head telling me words to go who i should elect you cannot kill your own people. in the name of democracy you cannot. leave you one and a half million lives in egypt and tunisia and other parts of the world. and nearly thirty thousand prisoners in. prison being tortured and being killed they called good dictator because if you braise the previous regime that was

before with their feet you may get. be taken to prison now if you glorify kid that if you will definitely be killed. now the u.s. took an active part in nato its military campaign in libya helping to overthrow gadhafi his regime now it's reportedly expanding its secret intelligence operations all across africa well coming up on cross talk that'll be fifteen thirty g.m.t. because of l. and his guests debate america's growing presence in the region. the real question is. are vial interests in some of these places and why the heck are we there right why not get out i think i would miss is the bigger point the bigger point is you can't have allies who you only call up on when it affects you and you don't come to their assistance when they want something now in the case of ugandan or you've got allies that we have that we have. we haven't you know because we have you here you

know you're. in an era in hero getting everybody in new york by the bomb goes off there now they're probably not since about oil yet for the united states yes it's about containing china in this is done under the banner of our war on terror. it's good to have you with us here on our to today will start with saudi arabia as we kick off the r.t. world update now to a protest in the oil producing east in the region of the country have left two dead after government security forces fired on demonstrators hundreds took part in the protest calling for the release of shia detainees by the government the deaths come after the arrest of firebrand shia cleric and anti government activist al nima seven people have now been killed since march when demonstrations began in the. late pakistani troops have died after the base was attacked by

a mosque militants in the eastern city of drought earlier massive convoys demonstrators had passed right through the area and they were heading to the capital where they are protesting pakistan's decision to reopen nato supply routes to afghanistan the supply routes were shut down in november last year after an american airstrike killed twenty four pakistani troops. meanwhile in afghanistan the taliban says it was behind a bombing that killed six american troops in a volatile eastern province it happened as the international community pledged sixteen billion dollars in aid to the country l b it with some strings attached but antiwar activist medea benjamin says there is a risk the cash at the end of the day will end up in the wrong hands. but naming afghanistan and me not nato ally could sit in a category with israel in japan which allows every enemy and to have special preferences when it comes to buying military equipment and being involved in

training that nato organized is so it keeps afghanistan within the media orbit for many years to come i think in terms of the money that was pledged and it really is is not different from the money that has been given to afghanistan in the past unfortunately it is much less then the amounts of money that have been spent on the military and given the corruption that exists in afghanistan is no guarantee that this money will be well spent. in the u.s. itself the war in afghanistan and so-called war on terror so the government embrace a myriad of new powers and some of the most controversial of those involve the ever growing use of surveillance letter here on r.t. in the program we'll talk with a former national security agency executive in america who couldn't stay silent any longer that's coming up coming your way in about one about someone it's time for now though a quick preview. raises the specter of you're automatically suspicious until we

prove that you're not it raises the specter of a universal quality universal wiretap a persistent universal wire top on every single person. or not they can create one because what happens if they don't like you what happens you speak ill will against a government what happens if you say something they consider disloyal when that's not the country i took an oath to defend and four times in my government career. straight over to the business desk of his arteries are critical of him good to see you today though i do understand a true russian billionaires are slugging it out fellas think rory not much changes that we've got all they got a past that he's asked to get and it's all because he's a former partner up by meeting up in london's high court today in what the media is called in the u.k.'s largest ever come. back to do and very much they we're going have details on that

a bit later on but first of all i want to get stuck into the markets and see what's happening as per usual not much changes in that you're saying the times and it's very much a mix you point you've got that the put you down around four tens of dissent the downing street is staying relatively optimistic nine basis points just that now they are declining though for a fourth day in a row that's ahead of europe's fine of ministers getting set to meet in brussels today the one but a positive news of the german narrative but you know they are up as a society just that is that exports like three pounds is gold the economy is harder for costed to my aside from that investors are still reacting to the poor us dog days when you had a friday japanese machinery orders tumbled by the most in a decade as well as done out with good honest bones pushing about that seven percent level so loss to be digested so that lots of chocolates and the stuff served for those ministers now is one of the outs that we're also going to be

discussing moving a step closer to march in the euro zone's major banks and all the details also we find out later on today e.u. leaders at the same up with idea the. when they met in brussels in june now they need regulates which many see as the first step to the banking union or reports of the european central bank and will supervise the top twenty five financial institutions now with that i mean live let's check out the common currency and see how that is reacting to all of these sentiments right now and it's still worth hearing around those two year lows against the dollar as you can see just ask any of us of such a friend said this hour we've also got the ruble there the russian crisis still is now to the boss get of cars that just ever so slightly above the thirty three roubles dollars painted ranked lower by the brutally sour global sentiment really today it must be said ok let's have a look and see that much can be said the sign for the russian exit is obviously it's been pretty much a lot of well they've got we all yes that get through right into the territory

around six tents with the my six holding on to around a quarter of a percent positive territory they are some of the movers and shakers whatever my case is stem is just it's around to the tens of the sun as you can see the investment holding company has built but no point five percent of which says from the market are false passenger flow has going thirty per cent of us all the time for the labor standards also it may be back about fifteen minutes but he always a pleasure we will see you next hour. or so we got here a lot to work out of the headlines but not to be followed by a very insightful interview with with a man who used to work for america's most secretive law enforcement service the national security agency and the ratio of employees burning out that's coming your way in just a sec. russians

would be soon which brightened if you.